The Infected [Books 1-6]

by P. S. Power

  “Any further questions on the matter should be addressed to Marcia Turner, Deputy Director of the IPB, who I believe I see right over there? I assure you that this situation is well in hand, and more, even if we didn’t have a guard at all, both of these people standing with us are trustworthy and would do anything to protect the public at large, even if they’ve made a few mistakes in the past.” He turned to the blond man who had led the attack, a guy from the conservative network and waved.

  “Yes, mistakes. Made under duress. Before you attack them for what they’ve done, Mr. Jonas, perhaps you’d be best serve to question your own loyalties and behavior? Haven’t you been linked to several hate groups in the last few months? I’m rather surprised that your channel still lets you on the air. Of course, this information won’t air there, due to the bias of your Network, but I think your competitors might be more inclined to let the truth out.” Then he took Peggy by the hand and walked off with her firmly. Stalking a little.

  The other camera people moved to get a reaction shot from Jonas, if that was his name and found the man looking pissed, rather than confused.

  The whole thing hadn’t been like Tobin at all, and as far as she could tell, Denis hadn’t been looking at him the whole time. His powers required him to focus on the person being influenced. Didn’t they? He saw her looking at him and shook his head, which was a sad thing, then looked at Tobin. Taking Mike by the hand she pulled him along and nudged the guy with his short wooly hair into action, walking in the same direction that Tobin had gone.

  “Um, that wasn’t normal. Explanation Den? Do we need to scuttle this mission and run or what?” Braid had a guy that could control people like that, from a distance. Make anyone do anything for as long as he wanted. He was called Stillness. The old codenames weren’t as easily understood as the new ones were. Not all the time. Why one of Braid’s people would have influenced Tobin into being so effective though she couldn’t see.

  Looking at Mike first, as if wondering who the heck he was, Denis shook his head again slowly. He tilted his head as they walked toward the stairs, as if asking who the new guy was. It was a good thought, since they really hadn’t been introduced. She didn’t want him to go around blabbing everything all the time, so she couldn’t fault him for being careful at the moment.

  “This is Mike Conroy. Colonel, U.S. Army, retired. Ran special operations with Lancaster, Reyes, Jason and I back in the day. I can’t talk about most of it, since it’s still classified. Currently he’s agreed to come in and act as a special trainer for Penny, so he’s one of us now. Most of that is also classified, though I want you and Hobbs to work with her and Brian from time to time on that. So, unless what happened to Tobin is really classified, you can talk about it.” She tried to leave off the last bit, but it would come out, eventually and hiding things from her own people, while always tempting, wasn’t going to work too well. Especially with the little stuff. Secrets eroded trust.

  “Um, Mike is also my ex-husband. My fault. Or, well, I’m still blaming my first mode for that one, which I’m sure I don’t need to explain to you.” They all got that kind of thing at the IPB. Once Infected you didn’t get a lot of choice in how you felt or reacted to things. People learned to just let stuff go, after a while.

  “OK.” Denis still looked glum, but kept talking.

  “It’s because of my dad.” He glanced at Conroy and stopped talking for a minute. “He was Infected too. A creepy cult leader that used his power to control and rape hundreds of women, tortured children and did worse things… Stuff that I don’t really want to talk about. The point is, his power was the ability to influence people, basically projecting a sense of them trusting him totally. My sister has a similar ability. Mindy. She used it on me a few months ago. Or tried to. I kind of defeated it pretty easily because she’s not that strong, but it got me thinking… I can make people feel anything, even overwhelm first modes. If I got people to trust me enough, to believe what I told them completely, they’d do what I said, right? I mean, if I really overwhelm their system, people kind of have to do what I want, if I do it right. So Hobbs and I have been experimenting with the idea.”

  They climbed the stairs to the sixth floor in near silence, letting the implication sink in.

  “It works. I’ve been using it to try and help some of the others get past their first mode problems. When I’m not around I mean. Lauren and Tobin mainly. I… It’s just that I’m afraid I’ll end up like him. Like the Prophet Darren Jones. Abuse my power and control over others and become a monster. I don’t know what to do. I mean, is it enough that the others I’m working with know what I’m doing and have asked for help? What if I get greedy? That’s my first mode, so it’s not like that one is a stretch or anything. What if I just wake up one day, decided I want more… and take it?” He glanced back at Conroy and kept walking, not out of breath at all.

  Finally he stopped talking, just as they started walking down the hallway. The older man looked over at Marcia first, and then Denis, both dressed up a bit for the cameras.

  “Well… I’m glad to hear that it worries you. That’s probably a good sign that you won’t let it get out of control. If you keep to only helping people that ask for it, that should be fine. Just use some common sense and when in doubt run it by Marcy or your Director. Moore is a good man. Solid head on his shoulders. Old enough not to let you abuse anyone, even by mistake. If that doesn’t work and you start to get too out of control, I’ll just sneak up behind you some night and shoot you in the back of the head, so you know, you have a safety net. It won’t come to that though. The fact that you care enough to let it bother you now means you won’t turn into your father. I know that I never wanted to be mine, worked against it pretty hard in fact.” The words weren’t cold or anything, but didn’t sound wishy-washy either.

  He’d promised to shoot Denis in the head if he got out of control and Marcia knew that he meant it. She’d have to let Den know that too at some point, if he didn’t buy it already. Later though, in a place less exposed. She mentioned some other things though.

  “Plus, there are the others. Hobbs and Brian… Penny too. They’ll keep an eye on you that way. How well is it working? I mean, that bit with Tobin was incredible, did it take hours of working with him or…”

  Denis sighed.

  “Marcia, that wasn’t even twenty seconds of work. I did it as the a-hole reporter was walking up. I don’t even know where Tobin got that bit about the hate groups from, I just told him he’d be confident and say the right things so I wouldn’t have to focus on him while on camera. It seemed to work, didn’t it? The guy looked ready to crap himself.”

  She had to agree with that. It was a lot more powerful than she’d thought at first then. No wonder he was worried. She would have been too if it was her and she didn’t even have to contend with constant greed yammering at her. Denis had suddenly found he could have anything, or anyone, and very little in the world would be able to stop him, if he did it right. Not a happy combination for a recovering asshole. Plus it meant he could probably order armies to do his bidding for him, making him at least a full power class higher. Boom, class seven without ever having done more than learning to pay attention. He might even be able to order people to just kill themselves, making his power perfectly lethal now too.

  “OK, for now Denis, I want you to keep it to helping people with mode problems and maybe things like quitting smoking or getting in better shape. Run any work plans by me first though please? You need to work with the ability to get good with it, but I agree; there might be some temptation there. Just keep in mind what you told me about your mode. You want things, but getting them doesn’t help you want them any less.” She gave him a hard look and Denis just nodded, seeming slightly relieved.

  “That’s true. I’ll do that. Thanks guys.”

  They dropped him at his room and then had to double back to the restaurant. She’d left her card and James was probably getting ready to buy a yacht or something
with it. She didn’t run though, since the thing would cap out at about five hundred dollars anyway. She had a lot more than that in her account; it was just a safety feature in case of theft. Not all of them in the IPB had it, but she liked to take precautions.

  The waiter waved to her, smiling when she walked in and walked over quickly to hand her the card and her receipt, along with the bundle of cash she’d handed him. He’d added the ten dollars like she’d said, but nothing else. Not on the bill at least, just the meals.

  “Thanks James. Are you going to be around later in the day? Anyone willing to work with the IPB is a treat. You’d be surprised at how often we’re invited to leave places like this by the staff. I can almost assure you that none of our people will throw things at you.” It was true. A few might stutter at him or hide, but no one would attack him.

  Except maybe Charlot, but that would only be with words. She was bitchy, not insane. Not most of the time.

  “Off just after lunch today. I’ll be back for dinner though, it’s a split shift, but I need the money for rent, so you know how that goes.”

  She nodded. After all, she’d been there herself, after a fashion. Young and without a job that paid enough to get by easily. She hoped he’d make it and patted his arm a bit before walking away. She hadn’t meant it that way, but he smiled at her as if she was flirting with him. Well, at least James didn’t seem to think she’d lost it totally or let herself get way to skinny. Wasn’t that the look now anyway? So thin that you could count all the ribs?

  She hit the elevator just as her cell rang, making her pull it from her front pocket. That and her ID, charge card and some cash was all she carried most of the time anyway, so she didn’t need a purse. They were just another way for people to bug your things after all.

  “Turner here.” No one would be calling her for a date, she didn’t think, so it was fine to sound businesslike.

  “This is Daryl. We have eyes on Mic. It was Burke that found him. We got the rental place to tell us when he’d gotten the rental, which was under an assumed name, then physically went from place to place along the route he was taking, trying to find cameras that would show where he was going. It took some doing, since we don’t have a warrant for anything, but we got him. You want in on the take down? We don’t know who he has with him, but there’s a lot of movement for it to just be him and Weathers in there. Given who they are, back-up seems in order.” The tone was hushed and gentle, even though he wouldn’t be all that close. It was something that IPB agents learned pretty quickly. You assumed that people could hear you, and even that they might be able to read your mind or emotions, so you kept everything as subdued on a mission as possible, just in case.

  “Send the coordinates. I’ll work up a crew… We need to meet a good ways off, so we don’t spook them. We can’t afford to mess this up. Not now.”

  “Got it. Messaging the location now. Meet us a mile South. I’ll send Burke to get you and bring you all in. There’s an old abandoned grade school there. We passed it earlier. Meet him by the jungle gym.” If it was meant as a joke Marcia couldn’t tell. She just took it as serious, as unlikely as it sounded.

  She knew the crew that she’d want to go with her, mainly made of people that could handle things without hurting anyone. Denis, Tobin and Christian. She also knew that she was probably going to get Brian and Karen in the mix too. Lady Glory wasn’t much in a fight, but she could subdue people without harming them pretty well. Proxy was a problem though. He tended to just kill people and they needed to ask some questions if they could. Normally it wasn’t a big deal, but this time it just might be.

  In the end, about ten minutes later she had Sammy and his bus ready to go, with Mark and Penny going along as well. Prime was left watching Peggy very publically at the hotel, both set up to act as Warren’s assistants, with instructions to be distracting to the cameras if they could do it without getting into trouble. Charlot got left too, but that was mainly just because she had a child to worry about rather than her possibly getting in the way or causing trouble. She’d been good at her job, back in the day, which meant largely knowing how to get in front of the camera at the right time. It was what Team One did.

  Prime could have been trouble though. The man was tough, no one doubted that, but it was an almost silly kind of thing with him. He’d fight an opponent into submission, and then back off, so that he wouldn’t look bad if anyone was watching. That, or he’d waste time grandstanding instead of actually just doing his job and killing the person. So he could stay back and make sure their image was maintained while they went on illegal covert operations. So far as she could tell it was still illegal anyway. They’d tried to report it to everyone they should, but so far, if anything had happened with that, no one had bothered mentioning it. The only thing they had going for them was the vague idea that a group of Infected might be involved, other than them, and the lie that Morris and Harpo were Infected.

  Neither of which would hold up in court. If it came down to it and they had to act, it would probably be best if they just made the bodies disappear. The Everglades should work for that. She had a strange suspicion that she might just be about to find out if it would really work or not.

  The only surprise was something she shouldn’t have felt at all. Conroy loaded up on the bus along with a large duffle bag from his car, a little red Honda that he’d had forever, but kept in great condition. The bag was new, made of heavy canvas and looked to be holding several pieces of hardware that would be illegal for a civilian to carry at all. Luckily for him he’d hired on. He could carry gear for them legally enough and even use it in a pinch. The shocking thing wasn’t that he’d want to come along, but that he called out for Penny until she answered.

  “Um, here?” There was a brief laugh from several people, and then Brian started waving his left hand in the air, gesturing to the window seat next to him. Karen had moved in next to Tobin across the aisle, since their powers worked well together and the plan was for them to strike first, if possible. They needed to coordinate and make sure Tobin wasn’t too close to her or the other way around. They could each entrance the other if that happened and then they’d lose half the power from what they were doing.

  Conroy moved toward them, and then looked toward the back, where there was a larger seat that would fit six people or so.

  “Come with me then, both of you. You told me you can see Cooper here, right? Help me get her locked on to mission spec.” They all moved, Mike speaking the whole time as they did. The drive was one that took nearly an hour, but mainly because they went by the scenic route, she was almost certain. The place was pretty, but a bit flat for her taste. Filled with green though, once they got away from the hotels and tourist zones.

  Denis ended up sitting next to her, but didn’t say anything much. He often didn’t on missions anymore. Marcia suspected it was because he was afraid he’d start cussing like a sailor when he got stressed. He did that, but most of the time he picked his targets well enough for it anymore, so no one really minded. He listened as she gave out the assignments nodding along until he realized she hadn’t given him one.

  “Am I guarding the bus then? Because…” He shook his head and didn’t finish what he’d been thinking. Since it probably involved something crude, she let it go too.

  “No. I want you to back up Christian. If anyone tries anything near her, you drop them. I don’t care who it is. Try to take prisoners if you can. We don’t know what’s going on here after all. You two are going to hold back until needed, but if she tells you to do it, take out anyone she indicates without question. Non-lethally of course, but, you have a side arm, right?” Marcia hadn’t checked when he sat down. That really kind of showed how distracted this whole thing had her, since she normally would already know the answer.

  “Yeah, holster at my back. I’d feel better if you gave us Yi too. He’s way better in a fight than I am. Still, having him on Karen and Tobin’s team makes sense. We’ll live. By hiding and cow
ering most likely, but if you wanted a tough guy you should have gotten Warren to bring his boyfriend.” It wasn’t totally a joke, but Carl, the level fifteen trainer, was too important to waste on field ops. He had an innate understanding of what people needed to learn and how to get them to do it, even if it wasn’t readily seen by anyone else.

  It was his Infected power. His first mode was a disregard for others pain or discomfort, so it worked out pretty well. In an insane way that almost everyone hated. He really was tough though. No one could doubt that. He pushed himself just as hard as he did everyone else.

  So she just agreed.

  “Your job is to keep Chris safe. Running and hiding will work for that. Better than fighting most of the time. Not that you can’t fight. I noticed that you didn’t look too shabby with Brian last night.” She watched as he winced and held his stomach.

  “You mean where he beat me down in about two seconds, while pulling his punches to keep from hurting me too bad even though I was hitting him with a sense of paralysis that should have dropped a small elephant? Don’t say he can’t hold back anymore, he totally did. Remember, he’s hit me for real more than once, so I know the difference. It was all I could do not to puke on him.”

  They sat for a while, everything going quiet about then, the bus slowing down near a really run down building that could have once been a school, if they only had fifty kids going there at one time. It was a single building, done in a light tan that must have been a mobile facility that no one had bothered to move when they were done. The place was that along with a big yard, a jungle gym and as promised, Burke. He was still in his black on black business suit and had his sunglasses on. The day was bright enough for them and from the bit of sweat on some of the people with her, warm enough, even at this time of year.